


Parting Paths

by yusahana6323



Category: the GazettE
Genre: Angst, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-25
Updated: 2016-08-25
Packaged: 2018-08-10 21:52:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,101
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7862509
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yusahana6323/pseuds/yusahana6323
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>They had tried, but they were still here, and Ruki didn't know any other way.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Parting Paths

    Reita leaned in the doorway, watching as Ruki packed a bag. He didn't say anything for a long time, just watching the smaller man with an air of sombreness. Then, he said quietly, "You don't have to go, Ru."

    Ruki paused, and his shoulders slumped slightly as Reita's soft voice reached him. "You know I do."

    "You can stay." The blonde didn't want to beg, because he didn't feel like he could. He knew there was nothing he could do to change Ruki's mind. Not on this. He would try, though. "Things haven't changed that much."

    Ruki looked around the room, eyes lingering on every little thing, on the memories each item held. Everything they had bought together, or at least agreed on, meant so much. From the curtains he had chosen for their design that Reita had teasingly grumbled about while hanging, to the furniture Reita had put together himself while Ruki watched, to the bed they'd decided on after lying on every single one in the store (and maybe jumping on a few), this room held the symbols of a life he and Reita had made together. And it had been a long, happy, content life.

    It wasn't that they were unhappy now. It wasn't that any of those feelings had really gone away, or that the memories were bitter. It was nothing like that. It was just that, like colours, they had faded. Things weren't the same. They were like sepia tone that crept into photographs.

    They had tried. Ruki had given everything he could, and he knew Reita had too. But still here he was, packing, feeling like there was no other way.

    "Come talk with me."

    "Nothing will be different."

    "It might be. We can try."

    "What will be different than it was yesterday?" Ruki turned to look at his lover now, his heart hurting so much it brought tears to his eyes. "What will taking to each other again make different? After we've talked to each other, to friends, to family, to counsellors, what more is there, Reita?"

    "We can make it work again. We can make it like it was." The blonde was biting his lip, feeling as if he was being torn apart. He knew what Ruki was feeling. He felt it too. The coldness that had crept into their relationship despite their best efforts was too much to take. He just knew he didn't want things to end like this. "You don't have to give up on it."

    "I don't know what else to do now, Rei. Maybe… maybe going away for awhile will help clear my head. I need some time to think." Ruki shook his head and turned back to his bag, fighting back tears. Every bit of him ached to go into Reita's arms, to let his lover hold him close. But it wasn't the feelings he knew he should have. It wasn't like it had been even just a year ago, when if he felt alone, he could flee to Reita, and his soul would be soothed in the strong arms, by breathing in the familiar scent that was purely Reita, not sullied by cologne or aftershave. But he had tried that recently, and it wasn't the same. It didn't settle him or comfort him as much. It didn't stop the pain in his chest that he felt from realising that distance had grown between them. He saw his hands shaking slightly as he packed the last of his clothes in and shut the bag. The zipper sounded extra loud as he drew it.

    "Please." Reita let himself beg, just a little bit. His pride kept him steady, but it allowed a bit of room for something this important to him. "Ru. If you walk out that door I know you won't come back."

    "Of course I will." Ruki's voice trembled. Reita had always been able to read him. Ruki had intentions to come back. He didn't want to just leave someone who meant so much to him, who was such a part of his life, whom he had loved so much. But this ache demanded distance, and time, and Ruki didn’t' know if he coujld promise anything. "I wouldn't leave you forever."

    "But you'll leave me for a little bit."

    "Just some space. I'll be back in…" Ruki let his voice trail off, trying to come up with a time frame he felt he could keep. "I'll…"

    Reita left the door and went to his lover, folded arms around him, and held him close. If there was any way to pour his emotions into an embrace, he was trying it now. Ruki stiffened for a few moments before he slowly returned the gesture, burying his face in Reita's chest. His slim body was shuddering from trying to hold back the tears of anguish that were rising, holding all his feelings of grief at how things had become this way. And the blonde just let him, like he always had, steadying him when things became overwhelming.

    "Please," Reita whispered again, one of his large hands stroking Ruki's thick hair. "We've made it through so far. We will. We'll get it through it. You just have to stay."

    "I can't." The tears were falling, soaking Reita's shirt. "I need to go."

    "Ruki…"

    If he didn't go now he never would. Ruki gathered his strength and pushed Reita away, pushed away from those arms that had held him from years, from the chest that he'd so often laid his head on, and stumbled back. He grabbed his bags and half-fled from the room, choking back tears. As he got to the front door, Reita's voice called to him.

    "Ruki!"

    He froze with his hand on the doorknob and slowly turned. Reita stood in the living room, looking desperate, torn, like he was on the edge. Seeing his strong lover like that almost broke Ruki's will.

    "Ruki, please. I love you."

    "I love you too, Reita," Ruki whispered. "I do. Goodbye."

    And in another moment, he was gone, running far from everything he had known and built and believed in, leaving Reita behind alone.

    The blonde collapsed onto a sofa and buried his face in his hands. He wished so badly that he had done something differently, that he had said something more, even though he knew that even if he had  opened himself more, it would have done no good. He would still be here, alone, abandoned. No amount of pride could keep back the tears now, and there was no one to wipe them away or soothe them anymore.

**Author's Note:**

> Happy birthday to melonjuice! I hope you've had a wonderful day and like this little gift. <3


End file.
